


Mija

by Eridell



Category: Borderlands
Genre: Daddy Mordecai, Drabble, Gen, Headcanon Exercise, Manic Episode, Not like that either ya perv, Tumblr Ask Box Fic, domestic feels, hinted ptsd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-21
Updated: 2013-06-21
Packaged: 2017-12-15 17:18:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/852034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eridell/pseuds/Eridell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tina's in another one of her manic fits, and the sniper in the crow's nest above her takes it upon himself to keep her from falling over the edge the only way he knows how. (Short drabble based off a Tumblr prompt)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mija

**Author's Note:**

> This came from a short Tumblr prompt that mor-dee-kai sent to me on my Tiny Tina RP blog. I'll definitely be doing more with this prompt, and if it goes anywhere substantial I'll put it in a collection. The original post can be found here: http://tinathebunkermaster.tumblr.com
> 
> Prompt:  
> I always thought it interesting that Mordecai and Tina were both first introduced in Tundra Express. Mordecai's sniping nest is literally perched on top of her cavern in fact, I checked~. Do a drabble exploring that location connection in their relationship? I've often thought Mordecai was the "un-fun parent" out of the four original Vault Hunters. He keeps an eye on Tina and looks out for her. She, like most kids, might think he's the "Fun Police" in this manner.

“Tina, why do I smell a draft of burning hair and soldering fluid coming from your workshop?”

The draft across the Tundra was particularly vicious that day, sending flurries of snow howling across the open maw of Tina’s cave. She honestly hadn’t noticed until that moment, when a sharp voice snapping through the comm device on her wrist drew her attention rather rudely back to reality. The hand holding her soldering gun dropped the heated tip back onto the dock to her left with a frustrated grunt, her now free hand tapping the green button to open the line before retorting back with her usual manic urgency. “Now now, Bird Brain. I’m wrist deep in a life-saving surgery. If I get distracted now we’re gonna lose him and DAMMIT I AM NOT BURYING ANOTHER GOOD SOLDIER!”

The final line was delivered with a sharp, gravelly upturn of her voice that made the sniper’s head recoil from the device his wrist, a cold-laced snort leaving him in a thin wisp of frozen air from his nose. She was at it again, building some kind of sadistic weapon into one of her “friends”. God only knew where it was destined to go, but the irate edge to the girl’s voice meant she had a very specific target in mind. Tina in a mood like this was a very dangerous, volatile situation for whoever she was intending to aim her dynamite-powered ire at… and all those around her, including Mordecai himself. A faint twinge of self-preservation for himself and the perch directly above where she was tinkering kicked to life in his chest as he raised the device, taking a moment to listen to the faint whirring and buzzing noises mixed with the occasional quiet outburst from Tina coming through the otherwise silent line. “Tina, how bad is it? Is he gonna make it?” Sometimes it was best to play into the madness. Trying to ask her what she was doing or outright telling her to stop would dropkick her over the edge. Her rages were a delicate balance between manic productivity and blind rage, and anyone caught near it had to toe the paper-thin line with the utmost care. “Talk to me, mija. How’s his vitals?”

Her voice crackled through as another nasty gust overtook the perch, his exhales rising from his masked mouth in a thick plume as he did his best to strain his ears against the icy wind. “He’s dyin’ on me!” she screamed back, the faint echo from her voice rattling up from the mouth of her cave through the chill as the comm parroted it almost immediately after. “We’re gonna have to amputate both legs or we’ll lost him to frostbite. Damn it all, I am NOT gonna let this bastard die on me! I can’t take another dead soldier on my conscience, maggot!”

Mordecai paused to consider his response, his toe prodding gently at the invisible line of the young girl’s sanity when he finally responded. “Do what you have to, soldier. You keep that man alive at all costs.”

A loud, metallic buzzing picked up over the line, the echo floating up from below in an eerie repeating pattern as she went silent for half a minute or so. The buzzing died down and her voice returned, a clutch of calm returning to override the gravelly tint of mania by a flicker. “Legs are amputated. Bionic implants are being attached. I’m recommending Sergeant Hammerfist and Lucy Loopylips for commendations and immediate promotion after we patch this one up.”

“Good. You do that. I’m sure they’ve really helped.” Mordecai would never shake the peculiar sense of confusion that rose into his mind every time he became a sort of enabler for the pyro under him, but he couldn’t just let her spiral when she got like this. Someone had to keep her grounded, or the entire Tundra would erupt into flames. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust her talent… he didn’t trust her notoriously unstable sense of reality. “You’re doing good, mija. Just kee-“

“Don’t talk, maggot! I’m attaching the augments and your voice is making my eardrums wanna stab themselves to Swiss cheese!” The rough edge returned as she shouted into her speaker, the sharpshooter’s thought falling into silence as he listened closely. Metallic hammering. More swearing. The stench of a soldering gun drifting up from the cave mouth under him. Then, silence aside from heavy breathing. “Alright. He’s stable. Moving him to the recovery wing until he’s clear to return to battle.” Her voice was low, raspy from strain and carrying a quiver that tugged at the hardened sniper’s heart strings. His response was quiet as well, mimicking her fall from mania with a subtle tone of the relief washing through his addled nerves. “You did great, mija. Take some R&R time now. You’ve earned it. I’ll be down in an hour to bring you something to chow on.”

“Affirmative.”

Click.


End file.
